Everybody knows January is famous for it’s Dry January campaign, with thousands of people around the world going alcohol free for January.
Low footfall and selling less alcohol is every bar's worst nightmare, but there are still ways to increase your profits without promoting spirits.
The first thing to remember is that sober customers exist all year round, and we shouldn’t be neglecting them! There are so many reasons somebody might choose to not consume alcohol from religion, alcoholism, health reasons, being underage, pregnant, designated drivers or maybe they just don’t like the taste! Dry January raises a lot of important points and the first step to increasing your customer range is to embrace that it’s okay to be different.
By offering more exciting options, everybody can feel included and you can boost your sales throughout January and across the entire year!
With 29% of pub visits and 37% of restaurant visits now being alcohol-free, and the low and no alcohol drinks sector predicted to be worth £450m by 2024, it’s important to make the growing number of non-drinkers feel welcome.
Let’s look at some of the different options you could offer on your menu to increase your alcohol free range without boring soda!
Side note: Whatever alcohol free options you add, you can easily mix or incorporate alcohol so it's the best of both worlds - work smarter not harder!
Artisanal Sodas
Just because somebody doesn’t want to drink alcohol, doesn’t mean they should miss out on social events due to a lack of options. Many sober individuals find fruit juice or soda from the tap to be a kids option, and find them too sweet or unappealing.
Try offering some more grown up flavours to your range such as elderflower presse or a spicy ginger beer.
There are so many quirky artisanal soda brands out there waiting to be discovered, with unique flavour combinations. Here are some of our favourites!
Boasting a range of botanical flavoured concoctions, Fentimans offers a wide variety of flavoured sodas that can be enjoyed on their own or as a mixer.
Made from wonky fruit, DASH flavoured sparkling water is sure to be a hit with customers both for its exceptional flavour and pledge to the planet.
Created to capture USA in a can, these nostalgic soda flavours are an exciting alternative to your classic cola.
Double Dutch offer a variety of mixers and tonic waters with botanical flavours, perfect for mixing or sipping on their own!
Mocktails
The beauty of mixology is there are no hard and fast rules, everything can be adjusted to suit personal preference. With a myriad of flavours and aromas to experiment with, it is super easy to create mind blowing mocktails for your guests.
Start by creating a non alcoholic version of all of your most popular cocktails, then you can look at expanding and creating new and exciting offerings for your guests. By recreating alcohol free versions of your existing menu, you don't need to go out and buy all new ingredients, saving you money and preventing waste!
For an extra exciting finish to your mocktails, why not add a Flavour Blaster™️ aroma bubble to add an interactive premium feel to your serves! People will be so excited about the scented bubble experience that they won't notice or care that it's alcohol free!
Zero Alcohol
To ensure everybody feels included, it's a great idea to offer the alcohol free version of beer, cider and prosecco. Most brands now offer an alcohol free alternative, for example BrewDog, Freixenet, Rekorderlig to name a few!
For those who prefer the taste and experience of sipping a spirit drink without the alcohol, there are so many brands out there that offer alcohol free alternatives!
Here are our favourite alcohol free spirits to add to your collection!
Lyres have truly mastered the art of alcohol free spirits, offering an alternative to most popular spirits including pink gin, vodka, tequila and rum. They also have no. alcoholic versions of most cocktail staples including triple sec, amaretto, coffee liqueur and vermouth.
Packed with botanical flavours, Seedlip offer a unique range of distilled non alcoholic spirits with the aim of not trying to recreate existing alcoholic products such as gin. These provide an interesting alternative to regular mocktails, providing more complex flavours than a typical fruit juice mix.
SENTIA offers an exciting new concept, using neurotransmitter science to create a drink that gives the positive relaxation effects of alcohol without the alcohol itself. Targeting the neurotransmitters responsible for the happy feelings of alcohol, SENTIA allows the user to experience those feelings without getting drunk, making it the perfect alternative for those looking for a buzz during Dry January!
CBD Drinks
Some people enjoy the relaxation that alcohol brings without necessarily wanting to consume alcohol. This is where CBD could provide a welcome alternative, allowing sober curious people to experiment with cutting down on alcohol consumption without losing that feel good effect.
Here are some great examples of CBD drinks to offer your guests!
Goodrays offer a range of sparkling CBD drinks which can be enjoyed on their own or used as a mixer with alcohol, opening up exciting new combination possibilities for guests!
TRIP offer a variety of different botanical based CBD drinks that can be enjoyed as an alcohol free alternative.
Maria and Craig's are offering a one of a kind alcohol free CBD infused spirit, infused with typical gin flavours but without any alcohol. The difference is that the CBD infusion still helps to deliver some of the feel good results of a typical alcoholic drink but without the hangover.
Other drink options
For those who are aiming to reduce their alcohol intake for health conscious reasons, why not offer a range of health juices or smoothies instead? Adding some high quality ingredients will help this range stand out from the typical orange juice and grenadine combo, and will help encourage people with health kicks and new years resolutions to venture into your venue.
For those who don't like cold drinks, offering a range of coffee and other hot drinks is always welcome and may increase your daytime footfall as people gather to your venue for coffee dates and remote working spaces.
It's Not Just About Drinking!
Remember, most people come to the pub because they want to socialise, so make sure you have plenty of activities planned to draw in the crowds. Whether it's a pub quiz, murder mystery or disco night, give people a reason to visit your venue regardless of their drink choices and you can guarantee you will have smiles all round! For some great event ideas to host at your venue, check out our blog here.
Conclusion
There are so many reasons why somebody might not want to drink alcohol regardless of the time of year. Make your guests feel welcome by creating fun environments with lots of alcohol free options to ensure the best experience for everybody! Get creative and have fun experimenting with flavours and see what exciting alcohol free options you can come up with - you never know, you might just prefer them!
